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FLORA AND VEGETATION OF NECKER ISLAND 
by Derral Herbst 
Department of Botany, University of Hawaii 
Necker Island, a small island of about 17 hectares, is located 
at 23° 34* N. lat., 164° 42 ' W. long. (1). It is a narrow, volcanic 
ridge with steep sides and a gently rounded top. The crest is divided 
into five moderately sloped hills, the highest at 92 meters. The 
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western end is separated from the main part of the island by a deeply 
cut divide less than a meter above the sea. The soil is coarse and 
gravelly and confined to benches or terraces formed by the differential 
erosion of less resistant lava. The rainfall was estimated by Palmer 
(14) at between 20 and 25 inches annually. Complete descriptions of 
the island and its history •are found in Palmer (14), Bryan (1), 
and King (9). 
Although numerous parties have stopped at the island, their visits 
were brief and few botanical collections were made. 6 Archaeological 
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sites and artifacts indicate that in some remote period Polynesians 
had frequented the island, perhaps using it as a religious sanctuary. 
However, at the time of its discovery by La Perouse in 1786, Necker 
was unknown to the Hawaiians, and there was no reference to it in their 
tradition (4). Although unable to land because of heavy seas, the 
discoverer made this observations ”It does not exhibit a single tree, 
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but there is a great deal of grass near the summit” (11). Both CAptain 
John Paty (15) and the annexation party (8) also noted the presence 
of the ”... patches of coarse grass.” Fisher (5) of the Albatross 
Expedition gives a slightly more detailed description of the vegetation 
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